Emergency braking control method for vehicle

ABSTRACT

An emergency braking control method for a vehicle may include: controlling, by a controller, an ambient information detector to take an image of surroundings of the road on which a vehicle is traveling; controlling, by the controller, a camera recognition fail state detector to analyze the image taken by the ambient information detector, and to determine a severity level of a temporary camera recognition fail state; and controlling, by the controller, an operation of an emergency braking apparatus or setting a control strategy according to the severity level of the temporary camera recognition fail state.

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application is a Continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 16/249,832, filed on Jan. 16, 2019, which claims priority fromand the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2018-0006046, filedon Jan. 17, 2018, which is hereby incorporated by reference for allpurposes as if set forth herein.

BACKGROUND Field

Exemplary embodiments relate to an emergency braking control method fora vehicle, and more particularly, to an emergency braking control methodfor a vehicle, which can previously acquire information on a section inwhich a pedestrian is highly likely to suddenly appear in front of avehicle on the route where the vehicle is traveling, and previouslyraise braking pressure in a stepwise manner depending on the possibilitythat a pedestrian will suddenly appear, thereby shortening an emergencybraking time.

DISCUSSION OF THE BACKGROUND

In general, an autonomous emergency brake referred to as an emergencybraking assist system indicates a smart safety system that reducesdamage by allowing a vehicle to automatically recognize an object orpedestrian in front of the vehicle and actively operate a brake, whenthe vehicle is expected to collide with the object or pedestrian.

The autonomous emergency brake autonomously analyzes a situation aheadof the vehicle through a camera or radar mounted on the vehicle, andreduces the speed or stops the vehicle through the brake, based on thetime to collision (TTC) with a preceding vehicle and the relative speedbetween the ego vehicle and the preceding vehicle, when a driver doesnot actively takes action.

Typically, the autonomous emergency brake previously outputs warnings toa user (driver) in stages. Specifically, the autonomous emergency brakeannounces ‘caution ahead’ as a first warning, announces ‘cautionrear-end collision’ as a second warning, and enters into ‘emergencybraking’ as a third warning. When an automatic sensor senses a collisionrisk element ahead, the autonomous emergency brake vibrates the steeringwheel or makes a sound to output a warning to the driver, before a TTCof 1.8 sec, for example. When the driver does not take action, theautonomous emergency brake may intervene in the emergency braking systemto force the brake to operate.

When a preceding target which is likely to collide with the vehicle issensed at a designated distance or more in advance, the autonomousemergency brake can respond in a stepwise manner. For example, theautonomous emergency brake may output a warning and then force the braketo operate. However, when a target is not sensed at the designateddistance or more in advance but suddenly appears in front of thevehicle, the autonomous emergency brake needs to immediately operate thebrake.

However, in this case that the autonomous emergency brake needs toimmediately operate the brake due to the target which suddenly appearsin front of the vehicle, a typical time delay required for raisingbraking pressure may occur to degrade the braking performance.

Therefore, the autonomous emergency brake needs to not only sense atarget which is likely to collide, but also previously acquireinformation on a section where a pedestrian is highly likely to suddenlyappear in front of the vehicle. Then, when the vehicle travels on thecorresponding section where a pedestrian is highly likely to suddenlyappear, the autonomous emergency brake needs to previously raise thebraking pressure in a stepwise manner, in order to prevent a time delayrequired for raising the braking pressure. In this way, the autonomousemergency brake requires preparation for shortening the emergencybraking time.

Besides, the performance of a sensor mounted in the vehicle orparticularly a multi-function camera (MFC) has been improved while theMFC has competitiveness with respect to a radar. Therefore, a lot ofapplication functions to which the camera sensor is applied aredeveloped and applied.

However, the performance of the MFC may be degraded depending on anenvironmental condition, for example, snow, rain or moisture, and theautonomous emergency brake may be unnecessarily turned on/off.Therefore, the function activation areas of the autonomous emergencybrake may be limited while the robustness thereof is reduced.

The related art of the present invention is disclosed in Korean PatentRegistration No. 10-1360683 registered on Feb. 3, 2014 and entitled“Emergency braking control apparatus and method based on vehiclecondition information”.

The above information disclosed in this Background section is only forenhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and,therefore, it may contain information that does not constitute priorart.

SUMMARY

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention are directed to anemergency braking control method for a vehicle, which detects atemporary camera recognition fail state, controls an emergency brakingapparatus to decrease the severity level of the temporary camerarecognition fail state, acquires accurate information on a section wherea pedestrian is highly likely to suddenly appear, and controls brakingpressure depending on the possibility that a pedestrian will suddenlyappear.

In one embodiment, an emergency braking control method for a vehicle mayinclude: controlling, by a controller, an ambient information detectorto take an image of surroundings of the road on which a vehicle istraveling; controlling, by the controller, a camera recognition failstate detector to analyze the image taken by the ambient informationdetector, and to determine a severity level of a temporary camerarecognition fail state; and controlling, by the controller, an operationof an emergency braking apparatus or setting a control strategyaccording to the severity level of the temporary camera recognition failstate.

The controller may set the control strategy to any one of normalcontrol, control maintenance attempt and operation suspension on theemergency braking apparatus.

When performing the control maintenance attempt on the emergency brakingapparatus, the controller may control a moisture remover to removemoisture on a windshield of the vehicle or temporarily suspend theoperation of the emergency braking apparatus.

In the controlling of the operation of the emergency braking apparatusor the setting of the control strategy, the controller may control anenvironment information receiver to receive environment information on asection in front of the vehicle, and set the control strategy of theemergency braking apparatus according to the received environmentinformation and the severity level.

The controller may calculate time required for reaching the section infront and time required for passing the section in front, using theenvironment information and the speed of the ego vehicle, and set thecontrol strategy of the emergency braking apparatus according to thecalculated time for reaching the section in front, the calculated timefor passing the section in front, and the severity level.

The environment information may include one or more of the type of anexternal environment condition, time required for a preceding vehicle topass a preset poor environment section, a distance (km) of theenvironment section, and a distance to the section in front.

The emergency braking control method may further include shortening, bythe controller, an emergency braking time by previously raising thebraking pressure of the vehicle in a stepwise manner, when the operationof the emergency braking apparatus is controlled or the control strategyis normal control.

The shortening of the emergency braking time may include: receiving, bythe controller, the traveling route or road information of the vehicleand information around the road; checking, by the controller, whetherthe current traveling section is a section with preset decelerationinformation, based on the received information; setting, by thecontroller, the braking pressure to a ready state for a first level,when the current traveling section is a section with preset decelerationinformation; detecting, by the controller, one or more pieces ofpedestrian-related information around the road by processing the imagetaken by the camera; and calculating, by the controller, a collisionrisk with a pedestrian through a designated method, when thepedestrian-related information is checked, and setting the brakingpressure to a ready state for a second level when the collision risk ishigher than a preset reference value.

The shortening of the emergency braking time may include: controlling,by the controller, a camera to take an image of the traveling route ofthe vehicle or information around the road, and detecting one or morepieces of pedestrian-related information around the road by processingthe taken image; checking, by the controller, whether the number ofpedestrians is larger than a preset threshold value and an exposure timeis larger than a preset threshold time, when the pedestrian-relatedinformation is checked; setting, by the controller, the braking pressureto a ready state for a first level, when the check result indicates thatthe number of pedestrians is larger than the preset threshold value andthe exposure time is larger than the preset threshold time; andcalculating, by the controller, a collision risk with a pedestrianthrough a designated method, based on the checked pedestrian-relatedinformation, and setting the braking pressure to a ready state for asecond level when the collision risk is higher than a preset referencevalue.

The shortening of the emergency braking time may include: receiving, bythe controller, the traveling route or road information of the vehicleand information around the road; checking, by the controller, whetherthe current traveling section is a section with preset decelerationinformation, based on the received information; setting, by thecontroller, the braking pressure to a ready state for a first level,when the current traveling section is a section with preset decelerationinformation; controlling, by the controller, a camera to take an imageof the traveling route of the vehicle or the information around theroad, and detecting one or more pieces of pedestrian-related informationaround the road by processing the taken image, when the currenttraveling section is a section with no preset deceleration information;checking, by the controller, whether the number of pedestrians is largerthan a preset threshold value and an exposure time is larger than apreset threshold time, when the pedestrian-related information ischecked; setting, by the controller, the braking pressure to the readystate for the first level, when the check result indicates that thenumber of pedestrians is larger than the preset threshold value and theexposure time is larger than the preset threshold time; and calculating,by the controller, a collision risk with a pedestrian through adesignated method, based on the checked pedestrian-related information,and setting the braking pressure to a ready state for a second levelwhen the collision risk is higher than a preset reference value.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description andthe following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and areintended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a furtherunderstanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute apart of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention, andtogether with the description serve to explain the principle of theinvention.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an emergency braking controlapparatus for a vehicle in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 shows the severity levels of a temporary camera recognition failstate in accordance with the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 conceptually illustrates control powers depending on the severitylevels of the temporary camera recognition fail state in accordance withthe embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of a process of setting a control strategyof the emergency braking control method for a vehicle in accordance withthe embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 illustrates another example of the process of setting a controlstrategy of the emergency braking control method for a vehicle inaccordance with the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a process ofcontrolling braking pressure in the emergency braking control method fora vehicle in accordance with the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 illustrates a method for detecting pedestrian-related informationaround the road using a camera sensor, in accordance with the embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating another example of the process ofcontrolling braking pressure in the emergency braking control method fora vehicle in accordance with the embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENTS

The invention is described more fully hereinafter with reference to theaccompanying drawings, in which embodiments of the invention are shown.This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms andshould not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein.Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure isthorough, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to thoseskilled in the art. Like reference numerals in the drawings denote likeelements.

It will be understood that for purposes of this disclosure, “at leastone of X, Y, and Z” can be construed as X only, Y only, Z only, or anycombination of two or more items X, Y, and Z (e.g., XYZ, XYY, YZ, ZZ).Unless particularly described to the contrary, the term “comprise”,“configure”, “have”, or the like, which are described herein, will beunderstood to imply the inclusion of the stated components, andtherefore should be construed as including other components, and not theexclusion of any other elements.

As is traditional in the corresponding field, some exemplary embodimentsmay be illustrated in the drawings in terms of functional blocks, units,and/or modules. Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate thatthese block, units, and/or modules are physically implemented byelectronic (or optical) circuits such as logic circuits, discretecomponents, processors, hard-wired circuits, memory elements, wiringconnections, and the like. When the blocks, units, and/or modules areimplemented by processors or similar hardware, they may be programmedand controlled using software (e.g., code) to perform various functionsdiscussed herein. Alternatively, each block, unit, and/or module may beimplemented by dedicated hardware or as a combination of dedicatedhardware to perform some functions and a processor (e.g., one or moreprogrammed processors and associated circuitry) to perform otherfunctions. Each block, unit, and/or module of some exemplary embodimentsmay be physically separated into two or more interacting and discreteblocks, units, and/or modules without departing from the scope of theinventive concept. Further, blocks, units, and/or module of someexemplary embodiments may be physically combined into more complexblocks, units, and/or modules without departing from the scope of theinventive concept.

Hereafter, an emergency braking control method for a vehicle inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention will be describedin detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should benoted that the drawings are not to precise scale and may be exaggeratedin thickness of lines or sizes of components for descriptive convenienceand clarity only. Furthermore, the terms as used herein are defined bytaking functions of the invention into account and can be changedaccording to the custom or intention of users or operators. Therefore,definition of the terms should be made according to the overalldisclosures set forth herein.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an emergency braking controlapparatus for a vehicle in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention, FIG. 2 shows the severity levels of a temporary camerarecognition fail state in accordance with the embodiment of the presentinvention, and FIG. 3 conceptually illustrates control powers dependingon the severity levels of the temporary camera recognition fail state inaccordance with the embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1 , the emergency braking control apparatus for avehicle in accordance with the embodiment of the present invention mayinclude a road information receiver 10, an ambient information detector20, a camera recognition fail state detector 30, a moisture remover 40,a warning unit 50, an environment information receiver 60, a brakingpressure state detector 70, a braking pressure adjuster 80, an emergencybraking unit 90 and a controller 100.

The road information receiver 10 may receive a route (or road) on whicha vehicle travels and information around the route.

The road information receiver 10 may receive the route (or road) and theinformation around the route from a navigation system (not illustrated)mounted in the vehicle or a navigation server (not illustrated)connected through wireless communication, for example, a road guidanceserver.

The route (or road) and the information around the route may not onlysimply indicate the speed limit for each location, but also include oneor more pieces of pedestrian-related statistical information amongstatistical information on the number of pedestrians for each day of theweek or each hour of the day, statistical information on the average ageof pedestrians, and statistical information on traffic accidents.

Thus, the road information receiver 10 may communicate with one or moreservers which provide different types of information, in addition to thenavigation server (for example, a road guidance server). Examples of theone or more servers may include a traffic accident information providingserver, a statistical information providing server and the like.

The ambient information detector 20 may detect various pieces ofinformation around the road on which the vehicle is traveling, orparticularly pedestrian information, using sensors mounted in thevehicle.

The ambient information detector 20 may detect pedestrians in front andside front of the vehicle, which are within a designated distance fromthe current location of the vehicle on the traveling road, using acamera sensor mounted in the vehicle.

For example, the ambient information detector 20 may take an image ofthe surroundings using the camera sensor, and process the taken image torecognize the pedestrians in front and side front of the vehicle, whoare within the designated distance from the current location.Alternatively, the ambient information detector 20 may simply take animage of the surroundings, and the controller 100 may process the takenimage to recognize the pedestrians in front and side front of thevehicle, who are within the designated distance from the currentlocation.

The ambient information detector 20 and the controller 100 may checkinformation on the number of recognized pedestrians and exposure timeinformation.

When an excessive number of pedestrians are included in one frame of theimage, it is not actually easy to count the number of pedestrians withina short time, while much load is consumed. Thus, when the pedestrians inthe taken image are not separated from each other but overlap eachother, the exposure time information may be used to indicate how manypedestrians are standing in a row on a pedestrian passage, withoutdirectly counting the number of pedestrians. The exposure timeinformation may include a kind of length information on successivepedestrians between whom the space is smaller than a designateddistance.

The camera recognition fail state detector 30 may analyze the imagetaken through the camera sensor of the ambient information detector 20,and detect a temporary camera recognition fail state to determinewhether recognition and sensing are possible.

The temporary camera recognition fail state may be caused by an externalfactor of the vehicle, an environmental factor and an internal factor ofthe vehicle.

The external factor of the vehicle may include a blockage caused by aforeign matter such as snow or rain, and the blockage may be dividedinto a full blockage and a partial blockage.

The environmental factor may include low sun, splash, fog, self glare, asmeared spot and the like.

The internal factor of the vehicle may include a blurred image, a frozenwindshield, sunray and the like.

The camera recognition fail state detector 30 may determine the severitylevel of the temporary camera recognition fail state.

Referring to FIG. 2 , the severity level of the temporary camerarecognition fail state may be divided into three levels depending onblur levels.

In this case, as illustrated in FIG. 3 , a control strategy may be setin the emergency braking apparatus according to the severity level ofthe temporary camera recognition fail state. For example, the controller100 may normally control the emergency braking apparatus when theseverity level is low, attempt to maintain control over the emergencybraking apparatus when the severity level is high, and turn off theemergency braking apparatus when the severity level is very high.

The moisture remover 40 may remove moisture on the windshield of thevehicle. The moisture remover 40 may include a blower driver 41 and awiper driver 42.

The blower driver 41 may send air to the windshield, and the wiperdriver 42 may remove rainwater or the like on the windshield.

The moisture remover 40 may include components other than the blowerdriver 41 and the wiper driver 42, as long as the components can be usedto remove water on the windshield.

The warning unit 50 may warn a driver about the severity level of thetemporary camera recognition fail state, using an image or voice. Thewarning unit 50 may employ a cluster or the like.

The environment information receiver 60 may receive environmentinformation of a section in front of the vehicle through vehicle toeverything (V2X) communication. The environment information may includethe type of an external environment condition such as rain, snow or fog,fail information on a section of the driving route of the ego vehicle,where a preceding vehicle has passed, time required for passing asection of the driving route of the ego vehicle, where a precedingvehicle has passed, and a distance to a section in front.

The braking pressure state detector 70 may detect the current brakingpressure state (for example, brake fluid pressure or the like).

For example, the braking pressure state detector 70 may detect thecurrent braking pressure state by converting the current brakingpressure state into a ratio, based on the supposition that the state inwhich wheels are completely braked not to rotate is 100%.

The braking pressure adjuster 80 may adjust the braking pressure of thebrake (for example, brake fluid pressure or the like) to a designatedratio, according to control of the controller 100. However, an actuatorfor adjusting the braking pressure may be changed depending on the typeof the braking method of the brake.

The emergency braking unit 90 may force the brake to operate, when thedriver does not take action even though warnings in stages wereoutputted in the case that a target (for example, a pedestrian,obstacle, animal or the like) which has been observed in advancesuddenly appeared in front of the ego vehicle, or when the time requiredfor the driver to take action is shorter than a designated time (forexample, a statistical time required until the driver steps on the brakeafter recognizing a target) in the case that the target suddenly appearseven though warnings in stages were not outputted.

The controller 100 may control the ambient information detector 20 todetect various pieces of information around the road on which the egovehicle is traveling, or particularly pedestrian information, using thesensors mounted in the vehicle.

Then, the controller 100 may control the ambient information detector 20to detect pedestrians in front and side front of the vehicle, who arewithin a designated distance from the current location of the vehicle onthe traveling road, using the camera sensor mounted in the vehicle.

At this time, the controller 100 may control the camera recognition failstate detector 30 to analyze the image taken by the camera sensor of theambient information detector 20, to detect a temporary camerarecognition fail state for determining whether recognition and sensingare possible, and to determine the severity level of the temporarycamera recognition fail state.

According to the severity level of the temporary camera recognition failstate, the controller 100 may control the moisture remover 40 to removemoisture on the windshield of the vehicle or control the warning unit 50to output the severity level of the temporary camera recognition failstate. Furthermore, the controller 100 may set a control strategy forthe operation of the emergency braking apparatus, according to theseverity level of the temporary camera recognition fail state.

The controller 100 may control the environment information receiver 60to receive the environment information of a section in front of thevehicle through V2X communication, and calculate the time required forreaching the section in front and the time required for passing thesection, using the environment information and the speed of the egovehicle. The environment information may include the type of theexternal environment condition, the distance (km) of the section infront, and the distance to the section in front.

Then, the controller 100 may set the control strategy of the emergencybraking apparatus according to the time required for reaching thesection in front, the time required for passing the section in front,and the severity level.

In particular, when the emergency braking apparatus is operatedaccording to the severity level of the temporary camera recognition failstate or the control strategy is normal control, the controller 100 maypreviously acquire information on a section where a pedestrian is highlylikely to suddenly appear in front of the vehicle on the route where thevehicle is traveling, and previously raise the braking pressure in astepwise manner depending on the possibility that a pedestrian willsuddenly appear, thereby shortening the emergency braking time.

So far, the functions of the components 110 to 160 have been separatelydescribed in order to promote understandings of the operation inaccordance with the present embodiment. In an embodiment, however, thecontroller 100 may collectively perform the functions of the components110 to 160, or perform one or more of the functions of the components110 to 160.

Hereafter, an emergency braking control method for a vehicle inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention will be describedin detail with reference to FIGS. 4 to 8 .

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of a process of setting a control strategyof the emergency braking control method for a vehicle in accordance withthe embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4 , the controller 100 may control the ambientinformation detector 20 to take an image of the surroundings of the roadon which the vehicle is traveling, using the sensor mounted in thevehicle, at step S10.

At this time, the controller 100 may control the camera recognition failstate detector 30 to analyze the image taken by the camera sensor of theambient information detector 20, to detect a temporary camerarecognition fail state for determining whether recognition and sensingare possible, and to determine the severity level of the temporarycamera recognition fail state, at step S20.

As the severity level of the temporary camera recognition fail state isdetermined, the controller 100 may control the moisture remover 40 toremove moisture on the windshield of the vehicle or control the warningunit 50 to output the severity level of the temporary camera recognitionfail state. Furthermore, the controller 100 may set a control strategyfor an operation of the emergency braking apparatus, according to theseverity level of the temporary camera recognition fail state, at stepS30.

For example, the controller 100 may perform normal control on theemergency braking apparatus when the severity level is low, attempt tomaintain control over the emergency braking apparatus when the severitylevel is high, and turn off the emergency braking apparatus when theseverity level is very high.

When the emergency braking apparatus is operated according to theseverity level of the temporary camera recognition fail state oroperated according to the control strategy, the controller 100 maypreviously acquire information on a section where a pedestrian is highlylikely to suddenly appear in front of the vehicle on the route where thevehicle is traveling, and previously raise the braking pressure in astepwise manner depending on the possibility that a pedestrian willsuddenly appear, thereby shortening the emergency braking time.

FIG. 5 illustrates another example of the process of setting a controlstrategy of the emergency braking control method for a vehicle inaccordance with the embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 5 , the controller 100 may control the ambientinformation detector 20 to take an image of the surroundings of the roadon which the vehicle is traveling, using the sensor mounted in thevehicle, at step S40.

At this time, the controller 100 may control the camera recognition failstate detector 30 to analyze the image taken by the camera sensor of theambient information detector 20, to detect a temporary camerarecognition fail state for determining whether recognition and sensingare possible, and to determine the severity level of the temporarycamera recognition fail state, at step S50.

Then, the controller 100 may control the environment informationreceiver 60 to receive the environment information of a section in frontof the vehicle through V2X communication, at step S60. The environmentinformation may include the type of the external environment condition,the distance (km) of the section in front and the distance to thesection in front.

Then, the controller 100 may detect the speed of the ego vehicle, andcalculate the time required for reaching the section in front and thetime required for passing the section in front, using the environmentinformation and the speed of the ego vehicle, at step S70.

As the time required for reaching the section in front and the timerequired for passing the section in front are calculated, the controller100 may set the control strategy of the emergency braking apparatusaccording to the time required for reaching the section in front, thetime required for passing the section in front, and the severity level,at step S80.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a process ofcontrolling braking pressure in the emergency braking control method fora vehicle in accordance with the embodiment of the present invention,and FIG. 7 illustrates a method for detecting pedestrian-relatedinformation around the road using a camera sensor, in accordance withthe embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 6 , the controller 100 may receive the route (or road)on which the vehicle is traveling and information around the route froma navigation system (not illustrated) mounted in the vehicle or one ormore servers (not illustrated) to provide specific information connectedthrough wireless communication, at step S101. The one or more serversmay include a road guidance server, a traffic accident informationproviding server, a statistical information providing server and thelike.

The route and the information around the route may not only simplyindicate the speed limit for each location, but also include one or morepieces of pedestrian-related statistical information among statisticalinformation on the number of pedestrians for each day of the week oreach hour of the day, statistical information on the average age ofpedestrians, and statistical information on traffic accidents.

Based on the received path and information, the controller 100 may checkwhether there is preset deceleration information, at step S102.

The deceleration information may indicate information which is providedto prepare for a traffic accident because there is a traffic accidentoccurrence risk. For example, the deceleration information may guide adriver to perform emergency braking or to decelerate the vehicle, inorder to minimize shock even though an accident occurs.

Thus, the deceleration information may include information that isdetermined according to a designated speed limit due to a school zone orroadwork, and information that is provided for a section where anaccident is highly likely to occur, based on statistical information inaccordance with the present embodiment. The statistical information mayinclude statistical information on the number of pedestrians for eachday of the week or each hour of the day, statistical information on theaverage age of pedestrians, and statistical information on trafficaccidents.

When the check result indicates that there is deceleration informationfor the corresponding driving section (Y at step S102), the controller100 may set the braking pressure to a ready state for a first level LV1at step S103.

The ready state for the first level LV1 may indicate raising the brakingpressure to a ready state for a predetermined level (for example, 30%),based on a braking pressure level of 100%.

Furthermore, as illustrated in FIG. 7 , the controller 100 may detectambient information through the ambient information detector 20 or thecamera sensor at step S104. The ambient information may include apedestrian, obstacle, animal or the like.

For convenience of description, FIG. 6 illustrates that the controller100 detects the ambient information at step S140 after raising thebraking pressure to the ready state for the predetermined level (forexample, 30%). However, this is only an example for convenience ofdescription. Thus, in another embodiment, the ready state for thebraking pressure may be set to another level regardless of the firstlevel LV1.

The controller 100 may control the ambient information detector 20 (orthe camera sensor) to take an image of the surroundings, process thetaken image to recognize pedestrians in front and side front of thevehicle, who are within a predetermined distance from the currentlocation, and check pedestrian-related information around the road (forexample, on a pedestrian passage or sidewalk), at step S105. Theinformation related to pedestrians may include the number of recognizedpedestrians and exposure time information.

When an excessive number of pedestrians are included in one frame of theimage, it is not actually easy to count the number of pedestrians withina short time, while much load is consumed. Thus, when the pedestrians inthe taken image are not separated from each other but overlap eachother, the exposure time information may be used to indicate how manypedestrians are standing in a row on a pedestrian passage, withoutdirectly counting the number of pedestrians. The exposure timeinformation may include a kind of length information on successivepedestrians between whom the space is smaller than a designateddistance.

When the pedestrian-related information is checked, the controller 100may calculate a collision risk including the possibility that apedestrian will walk into the route of the vehicle or a pedestrianvariance index, and set the braking pressure to a ready state for asecond level LV2 when the collision risk is higher than the a presetreference value (Y at step S106), at step S107.

The ready state for the second level LV2 may indicate raising thebraking pressure to a ready state for a predetermined level (forexample, 60%), based on the braking pressure level of 100%. Morespecifically, the ready state for the first or second level LV1 or LV2may not indicate that the emergency braking control apparatus puts onthe brakes, but indicate that the emergency braking control apparatusraises the braking pressure to prepare for braking. When performingemergency braking, the emergency braking control apparatus mayimmediately raise the braking pressure from the first or second levelLV1 or LV2 (for example, the braking pressure of 30% or 60%), in orderto put on the brakes.

Therefore, the emergency braking control apparatus can further shortenthe emergency braking time than in the related art, thereby moreefficiently preventing a pedestrian collision accident.

The collision risk, that is, the possibility that a pedestrian will walkinto the route of the vehicle or the pedestrian variance index may becalculated through an equation of {a*fn(number of adults, movingspeed)+1.5a*fn(number of children, moving speed)}. Here, a may representweight information indicating that a collision risk for child is higherthan a collision risk for adult, and the function fn may indicate thatthe moving speed of a adult and the moving speed of a child aredifferently reflected to calculate the collision risk. For reference, anadult and a child may be distinguished between each other based on theheights of pedestrians.

In the above embodiments, the emergency braking control method for avehicle in the case that the deceleration information is present hasbeen described. At this time, the deceleration information may bepreviously designated based on a place on the map (for example, school,kindergarten or the like). However, the actual road condition cam bevaried. For example, when an event (for example, walkathon,demonstration or festival) occurs at a specific place, the number ofpedestrians may temporarily increase.

In such an unspecified situation, the emergency braking controlapparatus needs to monitor the surrounding situation even thoughdeceleration information is not received, calculate a collision riskbased on the number of pedestrians and the exposure time, and set aready state for the braking pressure. This operation will be describedin more detail with reference to FIG. 8 .

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating another example of the process ofcontrolling braking pressure in the emergency braking control method fora vehicle in accordance with the embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 8 , the controller 100 may receive the route (or road)on which the vehicle is traveling and information around the route fromthe navigation system (not illustrated) mounted in the vehicle or one ormore servers (not illustrated) to provide specific information connectedthrough wireless communication, at step S201. The one or more serversmay include a road guidance server, a traffic accident informationproviding server, a statistical information providing server and thelike.

Based on the received path and information, the controller 100 may checkwhether there is preset deceleration information, at step S202.

When the check result indicates that there is deceleration informationfor the corresponding driving section (Y at step S202), the controller100 may set the braking pressure to a ready state for a first level LV1at step S203.

However, when the check result indicates that there is no decelerationinformation for the corresponding driving section (N at step S202), thecontroller 100 may detect ambient information (for example, pedestrian,obstacle or animal) only through the ambient information detector 20 orthe camera sensor, at step S204.

The controller 100 may process the image taken through the ambientinformation detector 20 (or the camera sensor), recognize pedestrians infront and side front of the vehicle, who are within a predetermineddistance from the current location, and check pedestrian-relatedinformation around the road (for example, on a pedestrian passage orsidewalk), at step S205. The information related to pedestrians mayinclude the number of recognized pedestrians and the exposure timeinformation.

When an excessive number of pedestrians are included in one frame of theimage, it is not actually easy to count the number of pedestrians withina short time, while much load is consumed. Thus, when the pedestrians inthe taken image are not separated from each other but overlap eachother, the exposure time information may be used to indicate how manypedestrians are standing in a row on a pedestrian passage, withoutdirectly counting the number of pedestrians. The exposure timeinformation may include a kind of length information on successivepedestrians between whom the space is smaller than a designateddistance.

When the pedestrian-related information is checked, the controller 100may check whether the number of pedestrians is larger than a presetthreshold value and the exposure time is larger than a preset thresholdtime, at step S206.

When the check result indicates that the number of pedestrians is largerthan the preset threshold value and the exposure time is larger than thepreset threshold time (Y at step S206), the controller 100 may set thebraking pressure to the ready state for the first level LV1 at stepS207.

Based on the pedestrian-related information checked at step S205, thecontroller 100 may calculate a collision risk indicating the possibilitythat a pedestrian will walk into the route of the vehicle or apedestrian variance index, and set the braking pressure to a ready statefor a second level LV2 when the collision risk is higher than the apreset reference value (Y at step S206), at step S208.

For convenience of description, FIG. 8 shows that, when the number ofpedestrians is not larger than the preset threshold value and theexposure is not larger than the preset threshold time (N at step S206),the controller 100 calculates the collision risk and checks whether thecollision risk is higher than the preset reference value at step S208.However, this is only an example for convenience of description. Inanother embodiment, the controller 100 can immediately perform step S208when the pedestrian-related information is checked at step S205.

In the present embodiment, the controller 100 may check thepedestrian-related information around the road, using the ambientinformation detector 20 or the camera sensor, regardless of whether thedeceleration is present. Then, the controller 100 may previously raisethe braking pressure in a stepwise manner, according to the collisionrisk indicating the possibility that a pedestrian will suddenly appear,thereby shortening the emergency braking time. Therefore, it is possibleto more efficiently prevent a pedestrian collision accident.

In accordance with the embodiment of the present invention, theemergency braking control method for a vehicle may control the emergencybraking apparatus to decrease the severity level of the temporary camerarecognition fail state depending on the temporary camera recognitionfail state, thereby expanding the function activation area of theemergency braking apparatus.

Furthermore, the emergency braking control method may determine whetherthe temporary camera recognition fail state continues, depending on thesurrounding environment of a section in front, and prevent unnecessaryon/off repetitions of the emergency braking apparatus through thedetermination, thereby expanding the function activation area of theemergency braking apparatus and improving the robustness of theemergency braking apparatus.

Furthermore, the emergency braking control method for a vehicle canpreviously acquire information on a section in which a pedestrian ishighly likely to suddenly appear in front of the vehicle on the routewhere the vehicle is traveling, and previously raise braking pressure ina stepwise manner depending on the possibility that a pedestrian willsuddenly appear, thereby shortening the emergency braking time.

Although preferred embodiments of the invention have been disclosed forillustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate thatvarious modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, withoutdeparting from the scope and spirit of the invention as defined in theaccompanying claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An emergency braking control method for avehicle, comprising: controlling, by a controller, an ambientinformation detector to take an image of surroundings of a road;analyzing, by the controller, the taken image to determine a severitylevel of a temporary camera recognition fail state; and controlling, bythe controller, an operation of an emergency braking apparatus orsetting a control strategy according to the severity level of thetemporary camera recognition fail state, wherein: in the controlling ofthe operation of the emergency braking apparatus or the setting of thecontrol strategy, the controller is configured to set the controlstrategy of the emergency braking apparatus according to environmentinformation and a severity level on a section in front of the vehicle;and the controller is configured to set the control strategy of theemergency braking apparatus according to a time required for reachingthe section in front of the vehicle, a time required for passing thesection in front of the vehicle, and the severity level.
 2. Theemergency braking control method of claim 1, wherein when the controllerdetermines the control strategy to be a control maintenance attempt onthe emergency braking apparatus, the controller is configured to controla moisture remover to remove moisture on a windshield of the vehicle orto temporarily suspend the operation of the emergency braking apparatus.3. The emergency braking control method of claim 1, the controller isconfigured to calculate the time required for reaching the section infront of the vehicle and the time required for passing the section infront of the vehicle based on the environment information and a speed.4. The emergency braking control method of claim 3, wherein theenvironment information comprises one or more of an external environmentcondition, time required for a preceding vehicle to pass a preset poorenvironment section, a distance of the environment section, and adistance to the section in front of the vehicle.
 5. An emergency brakingcontrol apparatus for a vehicle, comprising: an ambient informationdetector configured to take an image of surroundings of a road; and acontroller configured to analyze the taken image to determine a severitylevel of a temporary camera recognition fail state, and control anoperation of an emergency braking apparatus or set a control strategyaccording to the severity level of the temporary camera recognition failstate, wherein: the controller is configured to set the control strategyof the emergency braking apparatus according to environment informationand a severity level on a section in front of the vehicle; and thecontroller is configured to set the control strategy of the emergencybraking apparatus according to a time required for reaching the sectionin front of the vehicle, a time required for passing the section infront of the vehicle, and the severity level.
 6. The emergency brakingcontrol apparatus of claim 5, wherein when the controller determines thecontrol strategy to be a control maintenance attempt on the emergencybraking apparatus, the controller is configured to control a moistureremover to remove moisture on a windshield of the vehicle or totemporarily suspend the operation of the emergency braking apparatus. 7.The emergency braking control apparatus of claim 5, the controller isconfigured to calculate the time required for reaching the section infront of the vehicle and the time required for passing the section infront of the vehicle based on the environment information and a speed ofthe vehicle.